Round 22, 2003
Melbourne vs Sydney
Saturday 30 August
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 22,969
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 3.1 | 5.4 | 6.5 | 9.6.60 |
| Sydney | 1.2 | 3.5 | 6.9 | 14.10.94 |
Sydney win by 34 points
Goalkickers: David Neitz 2, Luke Williams 2, Nathan Brown 1, Brad Green 1, James McDonald 1, Scott Thompson 1, Adem Yze 1
Brownlow Votes:
Nil
Milestones:
Nil
In an era where nobody seemed to talk about 'tanking' it passed under the radar of most that if Melbourne lost their 8th straight match of the year they would receive a number 5 draft pick to go with the number 3 that they 'earned' for finishing 14th.
So it was a surprise then when the Demons not only led at quarter time, but extended their margin at the long break.
Young ruck duo Darren Jolly and Mark Jamar were dominating the centre, Scott Thompson was classy in the midfield and Clint Bizzell solid across half-back as Nathan Carroll comfortably beat Swan spearhead Barry Hall.
Kicking into the wind in the third quarter the Swans booted four behinds in a row and looked anything like a side playing for a spot in the top four against a side who couldn't move out of the bottom three.
It was Michael O'Loughlin who made the difference with five goals from that point, and the Swans started to dominate the midfield as well. Adem Yze was demolished by Brett Kirk who tagged him so comprehensively that he also doubled the dangerous Demons' possession count.
Best were Carroll, who held Hall goalless, Thompson and Jolly.
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Age - 31/08/2003